


A burn in the heart.

by enigmaticma



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship Nakamoto Yuta / Lee Taeyong, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Not Cheating, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:47:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27582926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enigmaticma/pseuds/enigmaticma
Summary: Mark felt it before he knew what it meant and who it was meant for. He felt the soulmate burn.
Relationships: Mark Lee/Nakamoto Yuta
Comments: 2
Kudos: 86
Collections: Challenge #3 — soulmates





	A burn in the heart.

Mark felt it before he realized what it meant. 

He was inside the airport with Johnny as they went back to Korea from a long vacation. Taeyong was jumping ahead, waving at them, with a man smiling brightly at Taeyong’s antics before he looked at them. 

There was an expression of confusion on the man’s face when he looked at Mark but it quickly vanished when Taeyong jumped on them. “Damn, I missed you guys!” Taeyong was excited as he pulled them closer. “Yuta, these are my best-est best-friends! Johnny, Mark, this is my boyfriend Yuta!” 

Mark felt sick in the stomach when he held Yuta’s hand for a quick handshake, forcing a polite smile. He was glad Johnny was excited enough to shift the attention towards him. Apparently, Yuta, Taeyong, and Johnny were born in the same year so they clicked right away, while Mark needed a moment to make sense of what was happening. 

He and Johnny sat in the backseat while Taeyong and Yuta sat in the front. Yuta was driving, Taeyong was on a full rant at how he hated his best-friends for staying so long in Chicago.

“I may go back,” Mark decided right then and said so, “the project is over, yes, but we can have a huge portfolio if we did a follow-up.” 

Taeyong looked at him in shock. “What? You promised you won’t go overseas for a while,” Taeyong whined.

“I’m not going to stay, just make a portfolio of our project then come back, but it’ll take a while. It needs to make an impact first,” Mark commented. Looking away from Taeyong, He noticed Yuta’s eyes on him on the rear mirror. “This is our first overseas project.”

Mark and Johnny ran a design business, for indoor and outdoor designing. They started it quite early in Seoul, with the help of Taeyong and two other of their friends there. It blew up with their project for an art gallery in Chicago. It was a huge project and it was normal to look for a follow-up.

Despite that, Mark was obviously not okay. 

Johnny caught on fast before they even reached the shared duplex with Taeyong and Doyong, another friend, and held him close to the wall. “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

“Yeah,” Mark said, only for his voice to crack at the end. He coughed and said again, “Yeah, why?” 

“You don’t look okay to me, Mark,” Johnny said with a deep frown, “will you tell me what is happening?”

“Yeah, maybe after a nap,” Mark gave up fighting Johnny and said, “I’ll tell you later.” Johnny and he had been neighbors since they both moved from overseas to Buchon. They surprisingly moved next to each other the same day and became friends. Mark was three years younger than Johnny but it didn’t stop them from bonding deeply. Mark wasn’t surprised Johnny felt his off-ness.

He went in after Johnny, picking up his bags and heading to his bedroom. He planned to ignore everybody for the rest of the evening just so he could think. He didn’t expect to see Yuta and Taeyong standing right by Taeyong’s room, flirting. He nearly toppled back to the stairs but forced his body to move ahead, walking past the couple, opening his door: he locked it behind him.

“What the fuck? What the actual fuck? This is not normal?” Mark was pacing as he mumbled to himself. “I just met the guy, what the fuck? This is not normal, I swear. Did I hit my head somewhere?” He slapped himself several times ,before deciding on the whim that he would just sleep. 

He took off his jeans and wore sweatpants before tossing his shirt away and slid under the comforter. He didn’t close his eyes, instead he looked at the poster hanging in front of him absently, and just felt it. 

There was a weird burn in his chest, a burn that screamed “mine” to him. He didn’t know what it meant, but he knew it was about Yuta. “Hell no,” he whispered, “that’s Taeyong’s boyfriend. Stop this, you stupid blood pumper!” He gave his chest a few weak punches before he tossed around. “This is stupid. What is wrong with me? I just met the fucking guy!” 

A knock on the door made him fast turn and cover himself, then the door opened. “Guess he is really asleep,” Taeyong’s voice could be heard, but Mark knew Yuta was there as well. He could feel a tug on his heart at the closeness. He didn’t realize how tense and stiff he was until the door was closed and he exhaled furiously, looking at the door. 

He could feel Yuta close. 

He didn’t know what to make out of that. It was the evening and he had planned tons of things to do before he went to work the next day, but he decided to just open the mini-fridge that he used as a nightstand and pick the vodka Jungwoo gifted him as a joke for his twenty-first birthday. He drank a shot, wincing badly at the burn, before sighing in relief because for once, his entire chest was burning and he could blame it on the vodka. It stopped him from overthinking as he dozed off. 

He managed to sleep two hours, waking up feeling like shit. He picked new clothes and walked to the empty bathroom. The warm water washed off the tiredness, but somehow the burn persisted. It tore a desperate sigh from his lips as he rested his throbbing head on the cold wall. “Make it stop,” he whispered to himself. 

He prayed Yuta and Taeyong were out because he wasn’t ready to face them. Johnny, Doyoung, and Jungwoo were the first people that he saw when he left the bathroom. “Markie!” Jungwoo screamed with joy, “did you get me what I asked you?” 

“I truly thought you missed me,” he grumbled pretending to be displeased at how Jungwoo teased him. It wasn’t like they didn’t talk to each other the entire time. But still, their happiness to see Mark after five months of absence was touching and he felt happier. 

They led him to eat as he slept through lunch when Taeyong showed up alone. “Where is your flower boy?” Doyoung asked. 

“He went to pick some late lecture for some of his friends,” Taeyong explained with a smile before he sat facing Mark and Johnny, “so, what do you think about him?” 

While Doyoung and Jungwoo rolled their eyes, Johnny smiled, giving Taeyong a pat on the shoulder. “He is cool, I am happy you found someone,” Johnny’s words felt like tiny stabs on Mark’s heart. 

“He is cool,” he said through his full mouth, “but you are still much better looking.” It made Taeyong throw a piece of kimchi at his face but thanked them anyway. Knowing Yuta would be late, Mark made a run for it. He went to visit his friend Donghyuck, who was still in his last year of university, he had to pick a few books he borrowed, and overall he just tried to go home as late as possible. 

It was one am when he got home, the house was dark with the exception of the kitchen and Mark knew it was Yuta. He didn’t have to check. His feet froze by the door unable to figure out what to do. Eventually, Yuta emerged from the kitchen, looking at him seriously. He had two cups of water in hand as he passed by Mark to the staircase, giving him a soft “goodnight”, and got in Taeyong’s room. Mark felt suddenly like he was better dead. 

His heart squeezed in pain as walked up to his room and he decided he could try and just accept that he was feeling weird around Yuta and that it was okay. It wasn’t serious, was it? It will fade, right? 

He had that hope for an entire month, in which he literally did his best so he could avoid Yuta and Taeyong. Chicago’s gallery was a hit of course so they were booked and he was the manager of their website, busy the entire time on perfecting it. “I seriously need more pictures, better pictures,” he said once, as he took the opportunity, “Jungwoo needs to come with me, he is a better photograph than any of us and we can fit the pictures to the template of our website.” 

They were eating dinner at home, Mark making sure to sit far from Yuta’s sight as he used Johnny like a wall between him and Yuta. The man was built enough to hide the sun. 

“Yeah,” Jungwoo offered, “I am free next week. We can do that in like a three day time?” 

Johnny nodded, “yes three days would be enough to take pictures, we still got tons to do here,” he said looking at Mark in the eyes, “we need to discuss that when you come back.” 

Mark nodded, knowing well enough what it meant. He was however surprised when Jungwoo opened the subject on the plane. “So what is the issue with Yuta?” He asked and Mark looked at him confusedly, “don’t act like you two aren’t avoiding each other. Do you know him from somewhere?” 

“No,” Mark admitted, “I just… I don’t know. Something felt off since he came into my life.” Jungwoo looked quite interested in details so Mark explained. “I felt a burn when I was in the airport before I even saw Yuta, he looked at me and I knew… I knew the burn was because of him.” 

“Wait… you felt a burn and you knew the burn was for him?” Jungwoo sounded incredulous but not disbelieving, “do you think you are soulmates? I better tell this to Doyoung!” 

“No! he will tell Taeyong hyung and I’m not ready for it,” Mark panicked but Jungwoo just held his hands.

“Don’t worry, Doyoung hyung, Johnny hyung, and I figured it that you didn’t want Taeyong hyung to notice anything so we kept this between us,” He explained.

Mark realized that Johnny used Jungwoo to suck the truth out of him and he closed his eyes, fighting the panic that hit him in waves. He was shaking by the time they reached Paris to change the plane. Jungwoo thankfully didn’t speak about Yuta until they reached Chicago and had tons of pictures the next day. He had two days left before seeing Yuta and he dreaded it. “I don’t want to go back home,” He admitted, “I don’t want to betray Taeyong hyung another day by… thinking this way toward someone he likes.” 

“Taeyong is not a baby, he is twenty-five,” Jungwoo pointed out, “plus, this is beyond your choices, Mark. You and Yuta are soulmates! He must have felt it too, seeing how he avoided you.”

“I don’t know,” Mark sighed when Jungwoo’s phone blew up. Mark was glad he left his phone on silent as his heart was so in pain to deal with them.

“What the fuck?” Jungwoo hissed, typing furiously on the phone, “what the actual…” 

Mark glanced at him, confused, “What happened?” 

“Apparently, Yuta moaned your name and Taeyong is furious,” Jungwoo said typing, “Doyoung said he heard the moan first and rushed out of his room to find Taeyong pushing Yuta out of the room. The man looked winded, unable to say anything because Taeyong kept on yelling.” 

Panic rose in Mark’s heart as he picked his phone, checking the chatroom. He kept reading the details and hearing the audio messages Doyoung and Johnny had sent. He couldn’t take it anymore and he cried. He was looking at Jungwoo without an expression while tears flew down his cheeks. 

“Can we go home tonight?” He asked eventually.

Jungwoo nodded and they packed up before taking tickets home. The thirteen hours flights never felt so dragging. Mark said nothing, not even shedding a tear, while Jungwoo kept furiously typing on his phone. 

When they got home, the mood was almost gloomy if not for the relief Mark felt when he noticed Yuta there. Yuta looked lost and wrecked but he didn’t look away from Mark. 

“We are here,” Johnny said as he pulled Mark to a hug, “don’t worry about it.” 

Taeyong was sitting alone when Johnny took Mark to the living room. He looked like he could kill whoever touched him while Yuta sat on the opposite side. “There was nothing between us,” Mark said suddenly which made Taeyong look up to meet his red eyes, “There is nothing between us.” 

“Then why did he moan your name? Do you think I am stupid, huh? The way you avoided him and he avoided you was so obvious, I truly hoped one of you would explain it to me!” Taeyong yelled it angrily and Mark found himself chuckling, tears running down his cheeks.

“Explain to you what? Oh, hyung, I love you so I tried to hide all my pain from you for the entire month because I felt a burn in my heart toward someone before I even knew it was your boyfriend and I can feel when he is close and when he is not and I can’t stop thinking about him,” Mark said with a quite monotonous manner that redeemed Taeyong quiet, “do you want me to tell you that? Do you want me to tell you that I can’t sleep because my brain can not stop screaming how he is your boyfriend while everything else inside me screams he is mine so I drink myself to sleep? Did you want to hear that?” 

Taeyong said nothing while Yuta approached Mark who felt him before he looked at him. “I am sorry… I caused inconvenience,” he said.

“No, it’s okay,” Mark looked away, speaking out of pain, “I wasn’t meant to be in the picture anyway. I’ll just disappear.” He wanted to walk but Yuta held his hand and the burn eased for a second so Mark looked down at their hands. “The burn is gone,” he commented in shock.

“Not really,” Yuta said with a smile, “it's just easier to live with.” Mark couldn’t look at Yuta, he was terrified it would be hard to look away so he looked at his friends, pleading them silently and Johnny held his shoulders. 

“Let’s leave Taeyong and Yuta to sort things out,” he said, “they still have a lot to talk about.” 

Mark was in bed while Jungwoo was being lectured for leaving a bottle of Vodka, empty by then, with Mark. They couldn’t find a word to say to the lying man until Yuta got in.

“Can I be with Mark for a second?” He asked and Mark looked at him in shock. The three men left the room and he simply joined Mark in bed. The initial emotion of belonging made Mark cling to Yuta despite his resolves not to touch the man but he didn’t let go even when it subdued. He had never felt so good to be in someone’s arms.

“What’s about Taeyong?” Mark asked after the haze left his mind and he could think without his heart screaming Yuta’s name at every beat.

“He understands I didn’t belong to him,” Yuta whispered, patting Mark’s head as if he was a baby. Mark’s mind registered how it made him feel much ready to sleep. 

“Don’t let me go,” Mark whispered as sleep won over and his brain slowly shut off, “don’t go.” 

“I won’t, Soulmate,” Yuta whispered back, “I’ll be always here for you.” 

Surprisingly, Taeyong came forward to Mark about it. “I am sorry, Mark,” he said which surprised Mark, who tried to stop Taeyong, but the man added, “no matter how I think of it, I feel selfish because you went through a lot and I thought that something happened to you with Yuta… I kind of thought he abused you or that you had a bad history with him, so I didn’t buy his excuses. I didn’t want to accept them too. I was…”

“Hurt, betrayed, stabbed,” Mark finished, “I know, hyung. I wish I could go back in time and just make the choice to stay in Chicago. Maybe then, you and Yuta would be still happy together.” 

Taeyong shook his head, patting on Mark’s shoulder. “No, you were meant to meet your soulmate, buddy,” he said with a smile, “how many do you know that has a soulmate? What you both have is unique. Don’t break it for me, I will move on.” 

“Hyung,” Mark wanted to argue more but Taeyong changed the subject. He even was okay with Yuta hanging around with them at home . “Is it okay if we take it slow?” He asked Yuta that night, as they cuddled in Mark’s bed, “this feels so fast for me, can we take it slow?” 

“Sure,” Yuta reassured, “we can take it as slow as you think Taeyong would take to move on.” Mark shot him a surprised look and Yuta chuckled, kissing his nose, “I am your soulmate, I know how you think,” he said teasingly and Mark just smiled, burying his face into Yuta’s chest. 

“Goodnight, Yuta.” 

“Goodnight, Lovely.” 

**Author's Note:**

> originally published on 16th of November for the November challenge.


End file.
